2.8.1
Chapter 8: Key Events
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Key Events in Chapter 8: Robbie's Letter to Cecilia
Robbie prepares for dinner at the Tallis house while brooding over the scene by the fountain earlier that day.
Robbie's letter to Cecilia
- Robbie types a letter to Cecilia, apologising for his behaviour and admitting to feelings for her. But he spoils the ending by adding an obscenity.
- He writes out a new letter and leaves for his engagement. On route, he gives the letter to Briony before realising, in horror, he has given her the obscene draft.
Robbie and Cecilia's history
- Robbie and Cecilia have known each other since they were both children and they attended the same university (Cambridge). Despite this, their relationship has grown more distant and complicated as they have grown older.
Quotation: Cecilia's awkwardness
- “Occasionally, they passed in the street and smiled. She always seemed to find it awkward – That’s our cleaning lady’s son, she might have been whispering to her friends as she walked on” (p79).
- Later in the same paragraph, Robbie professes that he “doesn’t care” about the differences in social class which exist between him and Cecilia, but he is clearly aware that it “might” lie at the root of her feeling “awkward”.
Struggling to interpret emotions
- There is the sense of two young adults struggling to interpret their emotions.
- Robbie blames Cecilia for this awkwardness/tension. But his behaviour later in the chapter shows his own confusion and perhaps reveals his own barely suppressed desires.
- The references to Sigmund Freud (the founder of psychoanalysis) in this chapter are perhaps meant as hints that Robbie’s delivering the obscene version of the letter is due to his subconscious desire to make his feelings known to Cecilia.
1Introduction to Atonement
1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement
1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts
2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One
2.6Chapter 6
2.10Chapter 10
2.11Chapter 11
2.12Chapter 12
2.13Chapter 13
2.14Chapter 14
3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two
3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse
3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn
3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack
3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections
3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal
3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk
3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar
4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three
4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940
4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer
4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War
4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding
4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit
5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four
5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371
6Key Character Profiles
6.1Briony Tallis
6.2Robbie Turner
6.3Cecilia Tallis
6.5Paul Marshall
6.6Emily Tallis
7Key Themes
7.1Introduction to Crime Texts
7.2Crimes in Atonement
7.3Criminals in Atonement
7.4Victims in Atonement
7.5Detection in Atonement
7.6Settings in Atonement
7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement
8Writing Techniques
9Context
9.1Historical Context
9.2Social Context
9.3Literary Context
10Critical Debates
10.1Marxist Literary Criticism
Jump to other topics
1Introduction to Atonement
1.1Introduction & Background to Atonement
1.2Focus of Your Exam: Crime Texts
2Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part One
2.6Chapter 6
2.10Chapter 10
2.11Chapter 11
2.12Chapter 12
2.13Chapter 13
2.14Chapter 14
3Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Two
3.1Pages 191-201: To the Farmhouse
3.2Pages 202-213: The Night in the Barn
3.3Pages 214-226: The Attack
3.4Pages 226-234: Robbie's Reflections
3.5Pages 234-246: To the Bridge over the Canal
3.6Pages 246-254: Arrival at Dunkirk
3.7Pages 254-265: To the Cellar
4Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Three
4.1Pages 269-277: London, 1940
4.2Pages 277-286: Briony as Writer
4.3Pages 287-315: Victims of War
4.4Pages 315-327: Lola & Paul Marshall’s Wedding
4.5Pages 328-349: The Visit
5Chapter Summaries & Analysis: Part Four
5.1Epilogue: London, 1999 - Pages 353-371
6Key Character Profiles
6.1Briony Tallis
6.2Robbie Turner
6.3Cecilia Tallis
6.5Paul Marshall
6.6Emily Tallis
7Key Themes
7.1Introduction to Crime Texts
7.2Crimes in Atonement
7.3Criminals in Atonement
7.4Victims in Atonement
7.5Detection in Atonement
7.6Settings in Atonement
7.7Guilt & Punishment in Atonement
8Writing Techniques
9Context
9.1Historical Context
9.2Social Context
9.3Literary Context
10Critical Debates
10.1Marxist Literary Criticism
Practice questions on Chapter 8: Key Events
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